Abdul Rashid Dostum

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Rashid Dostum

Abdul Rashid Dostum (born 1954) is a general and Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief of the Afghan National Army. His role as the Chief of Staff, however, is often viewed as ceremonial. ^[1] He is the principal leader of Afghanistan's Uzbek community.^{[citation needed]}

Dostum was born in Khvajeh Do Kuh, Afghanistan. In 1970 he began to work in a state-owned gas refinery in Sheberghan, Jowzjan Province, participating in union politics. He joined the Afghan military in 1978, fighting against the mujahideen throughout the 1980s. He fought in coalition with Ahmad Shah Masoud of the Northern Alliance against Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, in 1992. The Taliban captured Kabul in 1996, forcing Dostum to retreat to Mazar-i-Sharif. When his second-in-command joined the Taliban in 1997, Dostum left Afghanistan and went to Turkey.^[2]

He is the leader of the National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan. For many years Dostum was a supporter of the Soviet backed communist government.

1 Soviet war in Afghanistan
2 Civil War
3 Dostum as the Chief of Staff of the Afghan Army
4 February 2008 charges
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Soviet war in Afghanistan

As the government started to arm the staff of the oil and gas refineries (creating “groups for the defense of the revolution”) he was, on the basis of his military training, encouraged to enlist. His group, in response to increasing conflict, was deployed in the rural areas around Sheberghan, under the auspices of the Ministry of National Security.

By the mid 1980s his platoon had grown in stature, reaching a company level by at least 1987 and a regimental level, Regiment 734, by 1988. While the unit recruited throughout Jowzjan and had a relatively broad base, many of its early troops and commanders came from Dostum's home village, Khoja Dukoh, and these represented the core of the unit at that juncture and again when it was reconstituted after 2001.

He left the army after the purge of Parchamis, and returned after the Soviet occupation began, commanding a militia battalion that became a regiment and ultimately was incorporated into the defense foces as the 53rd Infantry Division, but reporting directly to President Mohammad Najibullah. He then joined the Ministry of State Security and became commander of unit 374 in Jowzjan.

He defended the communist Democratic Republic of Afghanistan against the United States-backed mujahideen in the 1980s. Although he was only a regional commander, he had largely raised the militia he fought with on his own.

The Jowzjani militia, as it became known, was one of the few militia forces to be used outside of its region. They were deployed in Qandahar in 1988 when Soviet forces withdrew. He also supported the Gorbachev-era Communist reforms in Afghanistan.

On April 18, 1992, he revolted against the government of President Najibullah, allying with Ahmad Shah Massoud. Together, they captured Kabul, the Afghan capital. He commanded the principal militia force in Kabul that ousted Najibullah, creating episodes of kidnapping, looting and fighting.

[edit] Civil War

Main article: Civil war in Afghanistan

In 1994, Dostum again switched sides, allying with forces of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, in once more laying siege on Kabul, this time against the government of Burhanuddin Rabbani and Massoud.

In 1996, following the rise of the Taliban and their capture of Herat and Kabul, Dostum realigned himself with Rabbani against the Taliban. Along with General Mohammed Fahim and Ismail Khan, Dostum was one of three factional leaders that comprised the Northern Alliance. Facing capture and death by Taliban forces, Dostum fled to Turkey as an exile.

General Abdul Malik, who was a subordinate of Dostum, revolted against him in May 1997 and joined hands with the Taliban. Much like other northern alliance leaders, Dostum also faced infighting within his group. Power struggles between Dostum and Malik came to a head when Malik decided to assist the Taliban in Mazari-Sharif to topple Dostum. Dostum fled the country and escaped to Turkey, thus leaving the power in Malik’s hands. By this time, the Taliban had gathered thousands of troops in Mazar, at Malik's insistence for help. However, now that Dostum had left, Malik switched sides again and obtained the assistance of the Hezbe Wahdat. Thus Malik handed over thousands of Taliban, many in their teens, to the Hezbe Wahdat. Over six to eight thousand Talibs lost their lives due to Malik’s betrayal.

A few years later, the Taliban finally managed to overrun Malik’s group. Malik first escaped to Iran for sanctuary and later chose to make Washington DC his permanent residence. Later Malik once again left Washington and is currently believed to be living in Iran.^{[citation needed]}

Abdul Rashid Dostum returned from his exile in Turkey in April of 2001. Massoud had funded Dostum to come and open a Western front in a campaign against the Taliban.

Dostum and Hamid Karzai in December of 2001

In November of 2001, with the beginning of the U.S. intervention in Afghanistan, and against the wishes of the CIA who distrusted Dostum, a team including Johnny Micheal Spann landed to set up communications in the Dariya Suf. A few hours later 23 men of ODA 595 landed to begin the war.

Dostum worked closely with a special forces ODA (documented by Robert Young Pelton in National Geographic Adventure article "The Legend of Heavy D and the Boys"). Mike Spann was to be the first combat casualty of the war and over 120 afghans were killed along with all but 86 of the foreign fighters in the fortress of Qala-i-Jangi. This battle is documented in the BBC/CNN production "House of War".

Dostum served as a deputy defense minister for Karzai in the national government in Kabul.

In November of 2002, Atta and the Tajik elements began to spread rumors about a massacre to journalists. Unnamed witnesses claimed that Dostum jailed and tortured prisoners transferred from Kunduz to the prison in Sheberghan. The torture and massacre of thousands of Taliban is alleged but unproven in a documentary film "Afghan Massacre: Convoy of Death" by Irish filmmaker and former BBC producer Jamie Doran. The film tells the story of thousands of prisoners who surrendered to Dostum's soldiers after the siege of Kunduz. According to the film, three thousand of the prisoners were forced into sealed containers and loaded onto trucks for transport to Sheberghan prison. When the prisoners began shouting for air, Dostum's soldiers fired directly into the truck, killing many of them. The rest suffered through an appalling road trip lasting up to four days, so thirsty they clawed at the skin of their fellow prisoners as they licked perspiration and even drank blood from open wounds. Robert Young Pelton was an eyewitness to the events at Sheberghan prison and supplied photographs and video to the UN to show that Doran's film was based on speculation but ultimately untrue.

In March 2003, Dostum established a North Zone of Afghanistan, against the wishes of interim president Hamid Karzai. On May 20, 2003, after narrowly escaping an assassination attempt, Dostum assumed the position of "Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief of the Afghan Armed Forces".

In the aftermath of the Taliban's removal from northern Afghanistan, forces loyal to Dostum frequently clashed with forces loyal to Tajik General Ustad Atta Mohammed Noor. Atta kidnapped and killed a number of Dostum's men and constantly agitated to gain control of Mazar i Sharif. Through the political mediations of the Karzai regime, the U.S.-led international military coalition, and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, as well as the UN-run Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration program, the Dostum-Atta feud has largely ended. The two are now generally politically allied as part of a broader ideological effort to protect the interests of Afghanistan's war veterans and to preserve their own power.

In most ethnic-Uzbek dominated areas in which Dostum has control or influence, he encourages women to live and work freely, as well as encouraging music, sports and allowing for freedom of religion.

On March 1, 2005 President Hamid Karzai appointed him Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief, although it is unclear whether this position has any real power.

[edit] Dostum as the Chief of Staff of the Afghan Army

According to reports, some senior Afghan government officials do not trust Dostum as they show great concern that Dostum is covertly rearming his forces. ^[3]

On May of 2007, Dostum boasted that he can raise an army numbered at 10,000 and crush the Taliban insurgency, stating, "Then you would see what would happen in six months." ^[4]

[edit] February 2008 charges

On February 2, 2008, about 50 of Dostum's fighters reportedly kidnapped Akbar Bai, a former ally of Dostum who had become his rival.^[5]^[6] In this attack, which occurred at Bai's home, Bai, his son, and a bodyguard were said to have been beaten, and another bodyguard was said to have been shot. Early on February 3, Dostum's house was surrounded by police. Bai and the three others were freed and hospitalized.^[6] According to the authorities, the stand-off at Dostum's home between his fighters and the police ended with Dostum's agreement to cooperate with the authorities in an investigation of the incident.^[7] Radio Free Europe reported on February 6, 2008 that Afghan Attorney-General Abdul Jabar Sabit said charges against Dostum were pending.^[5] Sabit said that the political and security situation would make it difficult to prosecute Dostum. The charges, according to Sabit, included kidnapping, breaking and entering, and assault.

"These are not political accusations -- it is a criminal case." "Anyone who commits a criminal act must be brought to justice," Sabit says. "But in reality, I must admit that there will be some difficulties. In this war situation, in many cases, it is difficult for us to implement the law."

Radio Free Europe paraphrased Mohammad Alem Sayeh, reporting the suggestion that^[5]:

"seven or eight" northern provinces could slide into civil war "if anyone touches even one hair on Dostum's head."

According to a spokesman for the United National Front of Afghanistan, Sayed Hussain Sancharaki^[5]:

"General Dostum has a high profile among his people and is one of the famous political and military figures of Afghanistan. He is [Karzai's] chief of staff for the armed forces and he is a senior member of the United Front of Afghanistan. It is natural that any kind of action against him will have repercussions. The consequences will be very dangerous -- catastrophic -- for the stability of Afghanistan."

Radio Free Europe quoted Human Rights Watch spokesmen Sam Zia-Zarifi, who called the charges a sign of Afghanistan's "growing balkanization".^[5] He asserted that the size of warlords private armies was increasing, fueled by illicit profits from Afghanistan's Opium trade.

On February 19, it was announced that Sabit had suspended Dostum from his position as Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief after he failed to appear when summoned for the investigation. According to Dostum, this was "not in line with the law", and he said that he would request Karzai's intervention. Three allies of Dostum—Latif Pedram and two members of parliament—were also summoned for the investigation.^[7]